Product Reviews

This is Uwe Rosenberg at his worker placement best, if you like a bit more peaceful games
than Agricola's punishing tightness.

I see it as a combination of Ora et Labora's resource conversions(tiles are two types of
resources, and can be flipped to the other side to represent further processing of the
resource) as well as Agricola's animal management and farm construction sub games.

Everything is well put together, with beautiful art and functional components with all of
the whimsy that one can expect from a Lookout Spiele game; in particular, I appreciated
the stickers to place on the cows to make them 'black pied'. Also, the first level resources
are represented on a track with single tokens; after wrangling hundreds of wooden bits,
this mechanic sort-of-borrowed from Inland Port is welcome as a convenience and for
easy board parsing.

Speaking of board parsing, this game does have quite a bit going on. The setup time,
while less than Eclipse or Caverna, is still fairly lengthy; don't expect to pull this one out at
the drop of a hat.

When you do get to play, solo or in a pair, expect the game to have very streamlined,
clear mechanics that are a joy to play and construct strategies over. Every system in the
game works seamlessly together, thematically make sense, and really feels like a
merchant/farmer simulation. It is also extraordinarily relaxing to play; gone are the 'I
MUST HAVE FOOD!!!' emergencies of Agricola, but there is still a minor upkeep phase.
Breaking the game up into two seasons also enhances the theme, and instead of, as in
Caverna/Agricola, the starting player being an action spot, in this one it is a penalty(or
bonus, if you are the receiving player) to use an otherwise unavailable action.

I would recommend this game to any Rosenberg fans, and worker placement fans in
general; it is rare to find such a game that works well with two, with no significant rule
changes necessary.

Roam the fields and tend the flax!

Other Resources for Fields of Arle:

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